By Wilfred Eya
The battle for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has intensified as the leading aspirants struggle to secure the support of power brokers and influencers in various geo-political zones in the country.
This came even as former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is working round the clock to retain the structure with which he won the presidential primaries of the party in 2019.
A top member of the main opposition party who declined to be mentioned told Daily Sun at the weekend that most of the influential retired generals have become the new brides of the aspirants.
He said the race for the PDP ticket at the moment is intense as it is still open for all the aspirants unlike in 2019 when some were in pole positions than others ahead of the primaries.
The houses of the retired generals, our source said, have become the new destinations of the leading aspirants.
He said the generals are believed to have the magic wand in the PDP unlike the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) where President Muhammadu Buhari holds the aces.
Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar who clearly won the primaries of the party in 2019, our source said, is sweating to retain the structure with which he picked the PDP ticket.
He told Daily Sun that the race for him has become tougher because he has lost a substantial part of his support base in the country particularly in the South.
Several factors, he said, now work against Atiku unlike in 2019 when he had a smooth ride in several states particularly in the Southern part of the country.
He said the presidential aspirations of his vice in the 2019 primaries, Peter Obi and that of the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike pose a serious danger as it will seriously deplete the number of delegates that will support him in the exercise.
Former Governor Obi and Governor Wike, he said, are likely to control majority of the delegates in the South East and South-South, and that Atiku is losing sleep that he may not repeat his 2019 feat at the PDP primaries.
But last week, Atiku said he already had over 11 million ready votes to win next year’s election if he emerges as its presidential candidate in this month’s primaries.
He therefore asked the party’s leadership to grant him the right of first refusal for the 2023 ticket.
Atiku said this to the PDP National Working Committee at the Wadata Plaza national secretariat when he formally acquainted the leadership with his decision to contest for the presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 elections.